Canyonlands National Park: Mammatus Clouds Over the Island in the Sky

Mammatus Clouds Over Grand View Point Road

Island in the Sky Segment, Canyonlands National Park.  Utah.  April 28, 2016.

http://www.aflitt.com/canyonlandsnp

Copyright © 2016 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved

Photo of the Day by A. F. Litt: August 20, 2016

Weather was a huge theme on my long trip this spring. This was taken on the same day as yesterday's photo, running up and down Canyonlands' Island in the Sky segment dodging storms between hikes. While it sounds bad, it was a great way to spend the day.  The stone is always there (in our human timeframe, at least), it's the skies that define the photos and make each moment unique.

These mammatus clouds formed early in the day as a huge storm was rolling through.  It is hard from the photos to really understand the scale of these formations, but they are huge and amazing.

Mammatus Clouds Over Rock and Stone
Candlestick Tower Overlook.  Island in the Sky Segment, Canyonlands National Park.  Utah.  April 28, 2016.
http://www.aflitt.com/canyonlandsnp
Copyright © 2016 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved

Later on, I was talking with another photographer who was marveling at how most of the tourists were completely missing the show.  Oohing and awwing at the two thousand foot cliffs, they neglected to look up and notice the very spectacular, and much more temporary show going on over head.

I must admit that I was semi-guilty of the same thing.  I noticed the clouds and was in awe of them, but running through my photos today, I realized that I spent too much time with my camera pointed into the canyons instead of towards the sky while these clouds were overhead.

To be fair to myself, though, the weather was creating spectacular sights no matter where you looked at the time.

Mammatus Clouds Over Canyonlands
Candlestick Tower Overlook.  Island in the Sky Segment, Canyonlands National Park.  Utah.  April 28, 2016.
http://www.aflitt.com/canyonlandsnp
Copyright © 2016 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved 

Links

Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammatus_cloud